League of Kansas sponsors study on gender diversity in the state courts

In January 2011, Professor Jeffrey Jackson of Washburn University School of Law completed a comprehensive gender diversity study of Kansas, commissioned by the League of Women Voters of Kansas, which is now available on the Social Science Research Network.

Professor Jackson’s research showed that the League’s campaign had been most effective at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals level, with both courts only recently becoming reasonably gender-diverse. While many district courts had also attained reasonable gender diversity, the study showed where there is work left to be done: districts where judges are elected and small districts represented by three or fewer judges were most likely to still be non-representative. Professor Jackson’s findings led him to conclude that, statistically, commission-based selection districts provide better opportunity for female judges to be selected in Kansas.